Communication in Animals

Touch

Although perhaps not as important or widespread as sound, scent or sight, a number of animals make use of touch in order to communicate their feelings to others of their kind.

Humans may shake hands, kiss or hug when meeting as a sign of respect or affection.

Apes and monkeys will also hug and 'kiss' on meeting, although in certain species of monkey the visiting or newly arrived monkey will place its hand in the mouth of the monkey it is greeting. After a few moments the hand is withdrawn and the other monkey will place its hand in the mouth of the visitor. This appears to be a sign of trust and goodwill between monkeys.

Big cats tend to nuzzle each other, as do rhinos and many other animals. Elephants too use touch as a means of close communication - interlinking trunks.

There are of course huge numbers of other examples of how animals communicate with each other and we cannot cover them all. However, we hope that you may be inspired to find out even more, or perhaps to start observing your pets or even wild animals to see how they interact and communicate with one another. Who knows, maybe one day you will be an expert in the topic!